• Ottevaere, Heidi
• Hermanne, Alex
• Van Erps, Jurgen
• Onate, Virginia Gomez
• Debaes, Christof
• Vynck, Pedro
• Overmeire, Sara Van
• Vervaeke, Michael
• Thienpont, Hugo
• Desmet, Lieven

Abstract

One of the important challenges to prototype optical and micro-optical systems is the ability to include geometries with high enough optical surface quality. This generally means that the surface flatness and The resolution should be controlled within a sub-micrometer scale and that the resulting surface roughness should be only a fraction of the operating wavelengths. In our labs at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel we are therefore focusing on the continuous development of a rapid prototyping technology for the fabrication of micro-optical modules. In this technology, which we call Deep Proton Writing (DPW), we bombard polymer samples with micro-sized bundles (with diameters from 20 mu m to 300 mu m) of accelerated protons that have controllable energy between 5.5-16.5 MeV With this set-up we can sculpt structures with optical grade surfaces anywhere between 20 mu m and 1000 mu m thick. The strength of the DPW micro-machining technology is the ability to fabricate monolithic building blocks that include micro-optical and mechanical features which can be precisely integrated into more complex photonic systems. The DPW is furthermore compatible with low-cost mass-replication techniques such as micro injection moulding and hot embossing. <br/>With the DPW technology, we have prototyped various micro-optical structures that can be used in the domain of optical interconnects. In this article we report on: 1) two-dimensional fibre connectors, 2) out-of-plane couplers for optical waveguides embedded in Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), 3) intra multichip-module (MCM) level optical interconnection via free space optical modules.

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• surface
• polymer
• strength
• two-dimensional